This is traditionally the time when the incoming chairman provides his leadership address.  He…or she…shares their vision for the coming year.  Some years are easier than others.

Now, it seems that the job of being OPASTCO chairman is to strengthen our industry to prepare it for even greater challenges ahead.

We’ve come a long way in the past 100 years. First voice service evolved from a simple connection to our now digital networks.  Data is doing the same—evolving to meet complex new consumer demands and no one knows exactly how the future will appear.   

In the 1960s, when a telephone in one home looked exactly like a telephone in your next door neighbor’s home, the Saturday morning Jetsons cartoon showed video telephone calls.  Today they are a reality.  Star Trek featured hand-held communicators and mobile tablets.  Look how many of us in this room have more than one of those devices.  Get Smart had the shoe phone.  Well, we don’t have shoe phones yet, but if technology continues to change, our next competitor could be Nike. 

Yes, technology has changed the nature of how our customers communicate, and the businesses we have built must change to meet these challenges if we are to keep our customers and grow our market share.

It used to be enough to provide voice service.  We built the networks and our friends and neighbors were our customers.  The government regulated our business and for that we received support for our high-cost areas.  It was our Plan A. 

But Plan A doesn’t work anymore. Those regulated revenues we depended on are going down.  Policy decisions can only go so far to slow the process of dwindling regulated revenues, and every executive in this room knows that riding those revenues down to zero is a losing game. 

And it’s not solely because someone in Washington chooses a different regulatory model.  It’s the advance of technology that is making these regulations irrelevant and forcing policy makers to reform their rules. 

I know that many of us have believed that the right advocacy efforts alone could save those revenues, but advocacy efforts can’t stop the rapid changes in technology nor can it stop the industry leaders who have learned to leverage the new technology to reduce their own regulatory costs.

We need a Plan B.  We know we can’t stay the same.  And our trade associations can’t stay the same, either.

As an industry, we need our trade associations to be forward-looking—not only on policy issues, but also on business opportunities.  We need to create resources that help us embrace new technologies that allow us to offer more to our customers, help us cut costs, and position ourselves to compete in today’s and tomorrow’s communications markets—whatever they may be.

We’ve always believed in strength in numbers, and that’s why we have trade associations.  Industry unification is one way to strengthen our efforts as a whole while reducing duplication and expense.  It also gives our associations the ability to transform into a stronger advocacy voice and focus resources on business development to benefit our companies.  

Let me be clear.  When the OPASTCO and NTCA leaderships meet, we talk about industry unification and creating a definition of what that means that benefits our industry as a whole.  We are not talking about a merger or a take-over.

I know that it is hard to fathom the difference, but it is quite significant.  If this industry unification comes to pass, and it is a big IF, the value that members receive from their respective associations must be preserved.  And if the OPASTCO and NTCA leaderships decide that each association should continue as entirely independent organizations, OPASTCO’s leadership will address how your association can begin its own transformation into the association our industry and our members need to thrive in the future.

This week we have discussed the exploration of industry unity with NTCA and we have held listening sessions to hear first-hand how OPASTCO members feel about moving the association in this direction.  I would like to thank everyone who has provided comments—either during the sessions or personally.  The Executive Committee and I will take these comments back to our joint discussions with NTCA and use them as input toward future direction.

We are still in the very early stages of dialogue.  There are a lot of issues to explore and address, and no one yet knows what form industry unification will take.  As there is real, solid news to share, I will make sure you are informed and have a continued voice in the process.  As OPASTCO’s chairman, this is my promise to you.

Thank you.